The Journey Across America: A Tale of Goliaths and Gasoline

As we set out on our cross-country adventure, our trusty vehicle, the Volkswagen Golf TDI (known affectionately as the "A8"), became an unlikely giant among its peers. With a whopping 4500 pounds of passengers, camera gear, and miscellaneous items, this compact car defied all conventions. Our initial expectations were to see the world's largest coffee pot, but we stumbled upon something even more astonishing - the sun-dried raisin factory home to the world's largest box of raisins.

We couldn't resist the allure of this edible wonder, and as we gazed upon its impressive 16,500-pound capacity, our curiosity was piqued. What were the odds that two gargantuan structures would coexist in the same town? We spent a few minutes admiring the giant box, but before we could take any closer looks, it was time to move on. The raisin factory's resident officials explained the peculiar story behind this massive container, which had once held sun-dried raisins but was now empty and left as a testament to its former glory.

As we continued our journey, we encountered the world's largest artichoke, an impressive behemoth standing tall at 6 feet in diameter. Our minds began to wander about what other colossal creations might be hidden around this corner of America. The thrill of the unknown kept us going, and before long, we found ourselves face-to-face with the world's largest Pez dispenser - a towering monolith that seemed almost as imposing as our beloved raisin box.

Our fascination with giant structures reached new heights (literally) when we stumbled upon the world's largest monk. This colossal figure stood sentinel over a stretch of highway, its massive size dwarfing everything around it. We couldn't help but wonder who this patron saint of freeways was and what story lay behind such an enormous tribute.

As the miles ticked by, our tank of diesel fuel began to dwindle. With nearly a quarter tank left, we knew our time in America's giant land was limited. The thought sent us into a state of panic - would we be able to make it back to Los Angeles with just enough fuel to spare? Our hearts racing, we set off at a moderate pace, praying that the A8 wouldn't run out of juice before we reached our destination.

We pressed on, fueled by determination and coffee. At mile 840, we were still going strong - but that was about to change in an instant. As the needle crept closer to zero, our hearts sank. We had run out of fuel. The car died, its engine sputtering like a dying animal. We sat in stunned silence, watching as the darkness closed in around us.

The realization hit us like a ton of bricks - we had killed our trusty steed. 867 miles on a single tank was, to say the least, unprecedented. Our A8 TDI had defied all expectations and left us awestruck. We couldn't help but wonder what other secrets this car held within its diesel-fueled heart.

As we sat there, trying to come to terms with our situation, we couldn't help but think about the incredible journey we'd just completed. From sun-dried raisins to massive Pez dispensers and gargantuan monks, our adventure had been a wild ride of giant-sized proportions. And as we looked around at the desolate landscape stretching out before us, one thing became crystal clear: this was a journey worth taking, even if it meant running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat is it about America road trips and random giant roadside attractions behind me you'll see ry's Donuts which is in everything from Iron Man to Snoop Dog videos it's part of American pop culture but we thought how many random giant roadside attractions can we see on one tank of diesel fuel that's what we're going to find out today on the smok and Tire right then if we're going to do a distance challenge what we need is a car with range and no one does range better than Audi this is the A8L TDI clean diesel and in addition to a host of luxury features it carries on board 23.8 Gall of diesel fuel and advertises a combined fuel economy of 28 MP gon from its 3 l turbocharged V6 it's the long wheel-based model so there's plenty of room for people and things it's got all-wheel drive Google Maps based navigation and if you're going to go on a serious road trip this is exactly what you want to be driving you see Fus the master of the internet had come up with a plan we would attempt to see 12 roadside attractions in one day which required driving a distance equal to a quarter of the way across the United States on one tank of fuel the journey would involve City Highway mountain passes Coastal roads and a high possibility of traffic we Departed the world's largest donut at approximately 6:30 a.m. in route to the world's largest cup of coffee 70 Mi east of LA in rivers side uh Los Angeles means traffic which is bad for efficiency but good for showing off one of my favorite features in the entire known universe radar cruise control I have set the cruise control at 65 mph and I'm now going stop and go traffic without using my feet at all the car is doing all the work for me 4 minutes into this trip I'm fairly certain this is the best highway road trip car money can buy I con car look Google Street View has the cup look we the cup is on the GPS you think every Roadside Attraction will pop up in Google Street View right before we get there totally ruining the experience it's like yeah it's like the only thing about these exp is like the oh look there it is but like you get now you get to see it 30 seconds clear there it is wo that's a big cup it's not a cup that's a water tower it looks like a cup I mean it is a cup but it's the stupidity of this journey is just sinking in right now by the way Zach knew it the whole time I was like yeah let's go see some stuff if that's what all the rest of the stuff is going to be like this is going to suck so bad the cup looks like Chernobyl it's yeah it looks like yeah looks like a cooling tower for a nuclear power plant never built and they maybe it maybe it's a missile silo they painted like a cup to hide it and honestly if that's supposed to be coffee what a half-ass attempt at a coffee cup what a half-ass attempt at an attraction okay so the coffee cup was sort of a disappointment and if I'm honest the next few stops weren't particularly exciting either 80 more miles of driving led us to some Larger than Life concrete dinosaurs as well as a highly uneventful tortoise just just outside the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park on the 200m journey to Bakersfield we saw approximately nothing but desert and we realized that thus route was quite possibly the least Scenic Journey you could do in the state of California fortunately Bakersfield was the home of the world's largest shoe so we had that going for us which was nice yo thank you for picking a place that is straight in the hood should we tell Audi that our car is going to go missing no one comes here to see this shoe anymore because you don't leave I bet these people who live here have better shoe collections than this shoe yeah your destination on the left stay close to the shoe we'll be safe isn't it everything you hoped it would be here's the deal Marty we're going to make this shoe together if we're if this shoe store is going to be a big business and and really stand out from the other shoe stores we're going to have to do something big and I was right it was like a marry Poppin shoe yeah oh old it it's the shoe from when it was built I think we go see the olive the world's largest Olive yeah can't wait it better be gigantic I predict the world's largest Olive will be 44 ft in diameter world's largeest Olive like the size of that shoe right a 44t olive is what I I hope you're right what do you think I'm going to predict like 10 ft tall top to bottom and underwhelming when on a road trip as I well know Comfort is Paramount and the A8 soulless as it may be on the outside offers more Comfort per dollar than any other car money can buy between the space the ride quality from the air suspension and the seats which could heat cool and massage all at the same time my spine looked forward to the 61m drive to the world's largest Olive I used to not like vegetables very much which is probably how I ended up fat but but as I've grown up I like basically all vegetables now I'm a big fan of vegetables but the olive still I I literally gag and almost vomit in my my mouth every time I taste an olive yeah when I eat an olive I understand why women and some men don't like to swallow here there it is what a sorry looking Olive oh kidding that's a rock that's not an olive are you for real with this this is the olive Fus you're fire what a Zach can you get in the olive I might be able to fit in it and that's not and that but the thing is that we're questioning it it should be big enough that we can walk inside look up at it and go wow this OB this is disappointing even by AR stand dude you can totally get in the olive I can put you in if I wasn't so fat I would get in the olive I think you could actually fit you get your shoulders in I'm not even kidding it'll be like Pooh Bear in the honey pot know like if you I could if you told me there was the biggest of anything biggest trash can I bet it's four times the size the biggest chair in America is like the size of that building like they make jokes like oh the world's biggest ball of yarn but when you picture that ball of yarn it's like 50 feet tall yeah someone's been rolling that for like a century yeah the fact that this thing that I can practically see right over is the biggest of anything like anything this is like a beach ball a Zorb is bigger than this aorb is bigger than the and you can buy those for like 300 bucks on the internet yeah they go to your house yeah it's going to be hard for our viewers to understand life before the smartphone much less life before the interstate system 40 years ago this is what crossing the country was like a series of two lane roads with towns every 40 m or so each with a reason to take a break stretch your legs and maybe snap a picture of the world's largest Olive while Dad fills up the wagon but today with radar Cruis control reliable cars efficient cars comfortable suspensions and rear seat entertainment systems the kids are far more entertained texting from their own backseat world than they ever will be by a stop in Kingsburg home of the world's largest coffee pot I'll be honest I was expecting a a drip coffee pot now that's a percolator okay really what are the odds that two of these things are going to be in the same town right up the street from the grand percolator of Kingsburg is the one place I actually wanted to see the sunmade raisin Factory home to as they say the world's largest box of raisins I love raisins originally constructed and filled with 16,500 lb of sunmade raisins oh okay so it's a sign now but because it held raisins at one point therefore qualifies as a box of Razor they filled it they got the record fla Che and then they dumped it out and they dumped it or they they left it and that's what I'm smelling fermenting in there that's actually I I love this smell though makes me yeah smells like booze smell it smells like almost booze it makes me want to be finished with the day and get drunk sadly the journey like our fuel tank was nowhere near done diesel flowed long enough for to see the world's largest artichoke and then we got some sleep before hitting up the world's largest Pez dispenser and finally the world's largest monk is this is this guy the patron saint of freeways uh congest this traffic is we had gone over 700 miles and had run out of attractions but still had nearly a quarter tank of fuel left all we could think to do was turn around and head home and see if we could make it 300 M back to Los Angeles all right we've officially gone 802 miles on this tank it's just a matter of time now so when is it going to run out of gas I don't know I think we've got 5 to 7 Miles of fuel in the lines I think we got another 20 another 20 I hope not cuz I have to be if you told me that at the 840th mile 40 Mi past indicated zero the A8 would still be going strong I would have stopped to pee but I didn't stop so I started to go a little crazy the biggest Olive is only 7 ft in diameter wouldn't someone try to make a bigger Olive than that absolutely not die right now die right now die finally at long last 20 hours after leaving ry's Donuts the A8 ran out of fuel oh oh it's it's gone that's it it's dead I have no power y it's dead yes we have killed we have killed it I didn't think it would ever happen I was starting to lose the faith I thought this car was actually going to run forever oh I got really heavy steering hang on 867 mil we went on one tank of diesel fuel damn that is madness yeah I've never heard of any kind of range like that before on a stock vehicle no what that's unheard of driven normally not yeah not hyper mild not you know over mountains in traffic in stop and go parking lots all that stuff wow that's why it's so good that's why Diesel's so good 867 miles Jesus let's pee let's PE okay the the A8 TDI is simply astonishing 4500 lb plus three passengers and camera gear with all-wheel drive and in mixed conditions and it's still returned 36 mpg overall before running dry it may not be the prettiest flashiest or most fun way to spend 100 Grand but I will be damned if it isn't worth every single penny but this is the speed limit the police said the government says that any faster than this speed is unsafe on this road isn't that crazywhat is it about America road trips and random giant roadside attractions behind me you'll see ry's Donuts which is in everything from Iron Man to Snoop Dog videos it's part of American pop culture but we thought how many random giant roadside attractions can we see on one tank of diesel fuel that's what we're going to find out today on the smok and Tire right then if we're going to do a distance challenge what we need is a car with range and no one does range better than Audi this is the A8L TDI clean diesel and in addition to a host of luxury features it carries on board 23.8 Gall of diesel fuel and advertises a combined fuel economy of 28 MP gon from its 3 l turbocharged V6 it's the long wheel-based model so there's plenty of room for people and things it's got all-wheel drive Google Maps based navigation and if you're going to go on a serious road trip this is exactly what you want to be driving you see Fus the master of the internet had come up with a plan we would attempt to see 12 roadside attractions in one day which required driving a distance equal to a quarter of the way across the United States on one tank of fuel the journey would involve City Highway mountain passes Coastal roads and a high possibility of traffic we Departed the world's largest donut at approximately 6:30 a.m. in route to the world's largest cup of coffee 70 Mi east of LA in rivers side uh Los Angeles means traffic which is bad for efficiency but good for showing off one of my favorite features in the entire known universe radar cruise control I have set the cruise control at 65 mph and I'm now going stop and go traffic without using my feet at all the car is doing all the work for me 4 minutes into this trip I'm fairly certain this is the best highway road trip car money can buy I con car look Google Street View has the cup look we the cup is on the GPS you think every Roadside Attraction will pop up in Google Street View right before we get there totally ruining the experience it's like yeah it's like the only thing about these exp is like the oh look there it is but like you get now you get to see it 30 seconds clear there it is wo that's a big cup it's not a cup that's a water tower it looks like a cup I mean it is a cup but it's the stupidity of this journey is just sinking in right now by the way Zach knew it the whole time I was like yeah let's go see some stuff if that's what all the rest of the stuff is going to be like this is going to suck so bad the cup looks like Chernobyl it's yeah it looks like yeah looks like a cooling tower for a nuclear power plant never built and they maybe it maybe it's a missile silo they painted like a cup to hide it and honestly if that's supposed to be coffee what a half-ass attempt at a coffee cup what a half-ass attempt at an attraction okay so the coffee cup was sort of a disappointment and if I'm honest the next few stops weren't particularly exciting either 80 more miles of driving led us to some Larger than Life concrete dinosaurs as well as a highly uneventful tortoise just just outside the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park on the 200m journey to Bakersfield we saw approximately nothing but desert and we realized that thus route was quite possibly the least Scenic Journey you could do in the state of California fortunately Bakersfield was the home of the world's largest shoe so we had that going for us which was nice yo thank you for picking a place that is straight in the hood should we tell Audi that our car is going to go missing no one comes here to see this shoe anymore because you don't leave I bet these people who live here have better shoe collections than this shoe yeah your destination on the left stay close to the shoe we'll be safe isn't it everything you hoped it would be here's the deal Marty we're going to make this shoe together if we're if this shoe store is going to be a big business and and really stand out from the other shoe stores we're going to have to do something big and I was right it was like a marry Poppin shoe yeah oh old it it's the shoe from when it was built I think we go see the olive the world's largest Olive yeah can't wait it better be gigantic I predict the world's largest Olive will be 44 ft in diameter world's largeest Olive like the size of that shoe right a 44t olive is what I I hope you're right what do you think I'm going to predict like 10 ft tall top to bottom and underwhelming when on a road trip as I well know Comfort is Paramount and the A8 soulless as it may be on the outside offers more Comfort per dollar than any other car money can buy between the space the ride quality from the air suspension and the seats which could heat cool and massage all at the same time my spine looked forward to the 61m drive to the world's largest Olive I used to not like vegetables very much which is probably how I ended up fat but but as I've grown up I like basically all vegetables now I'm a big fan of vegetables but the olive still I I literally gag and almost vomit in my my mouth every time I taste an olive yeah when I eat an olive I understand why women and some men don't like to swallow here there it is what a sorry looking Olive oh kidding that's a rock that's not an olive are you for real with this this is the olive Fus you're fire what a Zach can you get in the olive I might be able to fit in it and that's not and that but the thing is that we're questioning it it should be big enough that we can walk inside look up at it and go wow this OB this is disappointing even by AR stand dude you can totally get in the olive I can put you in if I wasn't so fat I would get in the olive I think you could actually fit you get your shoulders in I'm not even kidding it'll be like Pooh Bear in the honey pot know like if you I could if you told me there was the biggest of anything biggest trash can I bet it's four times the size the biggest chair in America is like the size of that building like they make jokes like oh the world's biggest ball of yarn but when you picture that ball of yarn it's like 50 feet tall yeah someone's been rolling that for like a century yeah the fact that this thing that I can practically see right over is the biggest of anything like anything this is like a beach ball a Zorb is bigger than this aorb is bigger than the and you can buy those for like 300 bucks on the internet yeah they go to your house yeah it's going to be hard for our viewers to understand life before the smartphone much less life before the interstate system 40 years ago this is what crossing the country was like a series of two lane roads with towns every 40 m or so each with a reason to take a break stretch your legs and maybe snap a picture of the world's largest Olive while Dad fills up the wagon but today with radar Cruis control reliable cars efficient cars comfortable suspensions and rear seat entertainment systems the kids are far more entertained texting from their own backseat world than they ever will be by a stop in Kingsburg home of the world's largest coffee pot I'll be honest I was expecting a a drip coffee pot now that's a percolator okay really what are the odds that two of these things are going to be in the same town right up the street from the grand percolator of Kingsburg is the one place I actually wanted to see the sunmade raisin Factory home to as they say the world's largest box of raisins I love raisins originally constructed and filled with 16,500 lb of sunmade raisins oh okay so it's a sign now but because it held raisins at one point therefore qualifies as a box of Razor they filled it they got the record fla Che and then they dumped it out and they dumped it or they they left it and that's what I'm smelling fermenting in there that's actually I I love this smell though makes me yeah smells like booze smell it smells like almost booze it makes me want to be finished with the day and get drunk sadly the journey like our fuel tank was nowhere near done diesel flowed long enough for to see the world's largest artichoke and then we got some sleep before hitting up the world's largest Pez dispenser and finally the world's largest monk is this is this guy the patron saint of freeways uh congest this traffic is we had gone over 700 miles and had run out of attractions but still had nearly a quarter tank of fuel left all we could think to do was turn around and head home and see if we could make it 300 M back to Los Angeles all right we've officially gone 802 miles on this tank it's just a matter of time now so when is it going to run out of gas I don't know I think we've got 5 to 7 Miles of fuel in the lines I think we got another 20 another 20 I hope not cuz I have to be if you told me that at the 840th mile 40 Mi past indicated zero the A8 would still be going strong I would have stopped to pee but I didn't stop so I started to go a little crazy the biggest Olive is only 7 ft in diameter wouldn't someone try to make a bigger Olive than that absolutely not die right now die right now die finally at long last 20 hours after leaving ry's Donuts the A8 ran out of fuel oh oh it's it's gone that's it it's dead I have no power y it's dead yes we have killed we have killed it I didn't think it would ever happen I was starting to lose the faith I thought this car was actually going to run forever oh I got really heavy steering hang on 867 mil we went on one tank of diesel fuel damn that is madness yeah I've never heard of any kind of range like that before on a stock vehicle no what that's unheard of driven normally not yeah not hyper mild not you know over mountains in traffic in stop and go parking lots all that stuff wow that's why it's so good that's why Diesel's so good 867 miles Jesus let's pee let's PE okay the the A8 TDI is simply astonishing 4500 lb plus three passengers and camera gear with all-wheel drive and in mixed conditions and it's still returned 36 mpg overall before running dry it may not be the prettiest flashiest or most fun way to spend 100 Grand but I will be damned if it isn't worth every single penny but this is the speed limit the police said the government says that any faster than this speed is unsafe on this road isn't that crazy\n"